At Old Trafford, Brighton overwhelmed Man Utd, and Erik ten Hag has a growing list of issues to address in the early going of the season.
The euphoric away end asked, “Can we play you every week?” as Brighton dealt Manchester United yet another humiliating defeat. With their team behind 3-0 at home, fans began to leave their seats in other parts of Old Trafford.
Hannibal Mejbri’s wonderful consolation goal was missed by those who departed early, but it brought little solace. Another troubling day for a team that has lost its edge from last year and already appears to be in risk of losing its spot in the top four.
Erik ten Hag must already be worried about whether his team has what it takes to stay in that competition for more than one season as they return to the Champions League this week in Munich. It’s too soon to draw any firm conclusions, but United are currently in 12th place, already nine points behind Manchester City, and seven points behind Liverpool, Tottenham, and, maybe, Arsenal if they defeat Everton on Sunday.
The jeers that followed the decision to remove Rasmus Hojlund were a betrayal of the supporters of Manchester United, who will be aware that they are watching a pale replica of the team they fell in love with last season. Too wasteful in attack, too open at the back, and too simple to play against.
The United team had a terrible international break. They lost right-wingers for £158 million in just two weeks, rendering Antony and Jadon Sancho unsuitable for selection.
Sancho was bundled up in a hoodie at Carrington watching the under-18s as he continued to train his own team while the rest of Ten Hag’s team was at Old Trafford getting ready for this encounter. His future currently appears to lie outside of United.
Given the club’s numerous off-field problems, there may have been a desire to return to playing football, but Brighton are one of the last sides you want to face when things aren’t going as planned and confidence is a little shaky. So it turned out. The Seagulls excelled, defeating United in the league for the fourth time in a row with a 3-1 triumph.
Ten Hag had to take a chance even though they had a distinctive style and a grasp of their duties. He decided to play without a right winger when there weren’t any available. Hojlund and Marcus Rashford faced off against Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke in a tight diamond midfield formation that he deployed. United appeared to have something to prove at first but then lost steam.
Ten Hag was outmanoeuvred by one of Europe’s top managers when the tactical gamble backfired. In order to beat a great Brighton team that appeared more collected and at ease with the ball, Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen needed to get out to the full-backs as soon as possible. However, they were unable to do so in time.
Eriksen missed Joel Veltman in time, and Veltman’s sharp ball to Danny Welbeck set up the opening goal. Tariq Lamptey was the one who came up with the goals after the break. Lamptey had time to put a pass into the area because McTominay and Diogo Dalot were too careless on the right. Although Pascal Gross wasn’t the target, the fact that he responded more quickly than any United defender sums up the disparity between the two squads.
The third goal was also started by Lamptey, who broke into vast amounts of space down the left and found Joao Pedro, who scored well. With a brilliant goal, Hannibal gave United new life, but it would have been absurd had Brighton not triumphed.
